Editor’s Note

Our brains seem to like novelty (think impulse buying, social media posting, and that endless scrolling)—we’re looking for what’s new, what else is out there, and what we might be missing.

In other words:

Striatal Activity Underlies Novelty-Based Choice in Humans

In a 2008 study from the scientific journal Neuron, researchers identified the brains’ positive response to new stimuli. It seems we are in search of that bright shiny object in our peripheral vision. And while we’re not advocating even more time on social media (and yes we’re also science geeks), we’re encouraging and advocating for a lot of newness in 2019.

The novelty in our submission queue is evergreen; we’re fortunate to read work from all over the globe and it’s such a pleasure to edit and email with our young writers. Our goal has always been to be an expansive journal in scope and voice and being novelty seekers ourselves we’re especially open to writers, forms, customs, and traditions that pull us away from the familiar and into a new place of learning and discovery.

We’re excited to bring you our newest collection of Blue Marble writers—the poets of February 2019—> we think your brain will really like them.